Climbers aren't just for hunting!


fly

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Ummm, had it been me, would have been inclined to drop it a bit lower, like from the ground.  lol.  See that upper trunk falling to the right.  Wires above your head?

Glad it all worked out ok Frank, seen trees do funny stuff even with professionals.  Little guatemalan feller cutting trees next to us last year ran on more than one occasion.  

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The tree was between my mothers house and the neighbors. Cutting it from the ground was too risky. I was afraid it would hit the neighbors house. There weren't any wires. What you see is a rope I attached to the part of the tree that was being cut. As it fell I had a guy on the ground pull it to ensure it wouldn't hit the neighbors house. While I've never cut down a tree from a stand I do regularly hunt from 30 feet and rock climb over 100 feet so being up there is something I actually like to do. Indeed I used two stands because of the split. I had planned to use rapid rails after the split but forgot them at home. In this pic you'll see the fallen branch that would have missed hitting the house, but the rope was used just to make sure.

Tree.jpg

Frank Climbing.jpg

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The tree was healthy - I cut the branches off as I ascended with so I could get the climber up. I've climbed hundreds of trees - knew the climber part would be safe - attached to the tree the entire time with a rope. Only thing I hadn't done was cut the top off a tree with a chainsaw. My only worry was hitting the house below. I never had a concern with safety.

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Not really afraid of heights here and climbed pretty high in trees when I was a kid with no harnesses.  Have done my share of cutting with a chain saw from elevated positions too, don't much like doing it though.  No matter how careful you are, accidents can happen.  Been in the tractor bucket 10-12 feet off the ground plenty of times cutting limbs and topping stuff, thing I really don't like is the feeling that you got nowhere to go if things take a bad turn.  That said, I would rather be attached to a tree working off a climber than standing on a 32 foot extension ladder working with a saw.  Guess the last fall I took working on this danged house where I screwed my back up maybe taught me to have a little more respect for gravity, that was just a freak accident I never expected, had never had a ladder kick out on me like that before.  

Will never forget the time I was cutting a limb from a giant oak that was hanging over my fence and at risk to fall on the fence, the limb was as big around as a decent sized tree. Was working from an extension ladder and knew the limb where I was cutting from would go up after it had the weight off of it.  Kept picturing in my head the limb going up above the ladder and then the ladder falling with me on it, or the limb swinging back and knocking the ladder out from under me, so tied off the top of the ladder.  Luckily was able to drop it and narrowly missed the fence by letting it hinge down before cutting it free.  

Martin mentioned the tree looking dead, we had a member here waaaay back that climbed a dead tree with a climber, think it was JB(chicken checker).  May be a few still around here that might remember.  

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1 hour ago, wtnhunt said:

  Martin mentioned the tree looking dead, we had a member here waaaay back that climbed a dead tree with a climber, think it was JB(chicken checker).  May be a few still around here that might remember.  

I did that a long time ago William.  I put a climber on a tree before daylight, climbed it, then realized when I screwed my 1st gear hook in the tree it was dead.  I carefully climbed back down the tree but forgot my gear hook in the tree.  Got it about a year later when the tree fell.

I'm not saying you were being foolish doing that Frank.  I've cut some limbs in the past from a stand with a chainsaw.  I just prefer not to do that anymore and I prefer to stay below 25' when I'm in a treestand.  A long time ago I was cutting a big limb from a stand with a chainsaw and the limb split and came back toward me.  Like William said, there's not many choices to get out of the way.  Fortunately, it was a slow motion move by the limb so I was able to dodge it.  I've also fallen from a tree a long time ago (January, 1986) resulting in a broken right femur.  The older I get, the more I understand I'm not bullet proof so I typically opt for the safest option even if it cost me $.  I also gave up using climbers about 10 years ago except for using them at or near ground level hunting on the side of a steep ridge.  They are real handy for that.  Sucks to get old!

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Accidents certainly can happen and the more things added to the risk (height, chainsaw, tree stands, houses, falling limbs, wind) the more something can go wrong. After falling the tree the neighbor asked me if I'd take one on his property down. I told him I was retired. LOL

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